Arc Chaser ™ Quick Start Guide 21st Century Dual Mode TDR for Testing and Monitoring Energized and Unenergized Cables AC120 www.T3Innovation.com The Arc Chaser Dual Mode TDR is capable of finding faults (Opens, Shorts, Arc Faults) on fully energized cables up to 600 Volts. Arc Chaser can monitor live cables for intermittent conditions, capturing these “events”, and reporting where and when they occur. Using advanced Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry (SSTDR), Arc Chaser is capable of accuracy to fault of better than 1%. Revison 08/19/13
Transcript
Arc Chaser™
Quick Start Guide
21st Century Dual Mode TDR for Testing and Monitoring Energized and Unenergized Cables
AC120
www.T3Innovation.com
The Arc Chaser Dual Mode TDR is
capable of finding faults (Opens,
Shorts, Arc Faults) on fully energized
cables up to 600 Volts. Arc Chaser can
monitor live cables for intermittent
conditions, capturing these “events”,
and reporting where and when
they occur. Using advanced Spread
Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry
(SSTDR), Arc Chaser is capable of
accuracy to fault of better than 1%.
Revison 08/19/13
2 Arc Chaser Quick Start Guide
Power
BNC Male to F Female
Dual Banana to BNC Female
T3 Leader Cable 5ft 600V CAT III
Flanged Crocodile Clips: red and black
600V CAT III
Interface
Tone Generation
USB
Fault Location
System Settings
Live IFD
File Manager
TestPreferences
Home
Back
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Fault Location mode will identify a cable fault as “short” or “open” and provide a length measurement to the fault. This menu is also useful in determining cable characteristics such as VOP and Test Frequency.
• Power the Arc Chaser on by pressing Power Button
• Select Fault Location icon
• Connect the Arc Chaser to the cable (via leader cable or dual banana plug to BNC female adapter)
• Select Test Setup icon to confi gure the Fault Location cable test
▪ Leader Settings: select Leader or No Leader (Leader should be used unless dual banana plug to BNC female adapter is being used.)
▪ Cable Type: Select either Twisted Pair/Coax or Other
▪ VOP: Three options to select cable VOP (Custom VOP, Cable Type, Discover VOP)
Note: Only select one of the three options:
▫ If you know the cables VOP, select Custom VOP and enter the VOP.
▫ If you do not know the VOP, but do know the cable type select Cable Type and pick the cable type then press Select icon.
Fault Location
Frequency Chosen
Select Test Setup to confi gure a cable.
Select Custom VOP to create a cable name with a known VOPSelect a cable type from the cable list
Save VOP of the selected cable type
Use “Prev” / “Next” to charge selected
cable type
Select to view test results in
full screen
Select to view test
graph
Save test results as PDF
Cable type and corresponding VOP currently
being used
Fault Detected
Length to Fault
4 Arc Chaser Quick Start Guide
Live IFD mode can monitor live cables for intermittent conditions, capturing these “events”, and reporting where and when they occur.
• Power the Arc Chaser on by pressing the Power Button .
• Select Live IFD icon.
• Connect the Arc Chaser to the cable (via leader cable or dual banana plug to BNC female adapter).
• Select Test Setup icon to configure the Live IFD cable test.
• Test Setup: Auto Frequency
▪ Leader Settings: select Leader or No Leader (Leader should be used unless dual banana plug to BNC female adapter is being used.)
▪ Cable Type: Select either Twisted Pair/Coax or Other
▪ Test Frequency: Two options to select test frequency (Estimated Test Length or choose one of 5 preset Frequencies on the right hand side of screen).
▪ If you do not know which of the five preset frequencies to use, select Estimated Test Length icon to enter the approximate length of the cable to determine test frequency. Note: Running a Fault Location test will help to obtain the most accurate test frequency.
• Test Setup: VOP
▪ VOP: Two options to select cable VOP (Custom VOP, Cable Type)
Fault Location (Cont’d)
▫ If the VOP or Cable Type is not known, select Discover VOP and enter the known length of the cable you are testing. This will give you your VOP for this cable.
Note: VOP values can vary among cable types, lots, and manufacturers. In most cases, these differences are minor and may be disregarded.
▫ Select Save icon
• Press the Test Button to perform a test Note: Select Graph View to view waveform
Live Intermittent Fault Detection (Live IFD):
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Note: Only select one of the two options:
▫ If you know the cables VOP, select Custom VOP icon and enter the VOP.
▫ If you do not know the VOP, but do know the cable type select Cable Type icon and pick the cable type, then press Select icon.
Note: If you do not know the cable type or the cable type is not in the listing, go to back to the Home screen select Fault Location>Test Setup>Discover VOP to determine your cables VOP.
▫ Select Save icon.
• Press the Start icon or the Test Button to begin and stop a test.
• When your test is complete, select Stop icon.
Frequency Chosen
Select to begin test
Select to view a graphic representation of the faults
Select Test Setup to confi gure cable parameters or discover VOPSelect a saved cable type from
Select to access additional menu
options
Cable type and corresponding VOP
currently being used
Total faults and fault locations since pressing
Start
Time elapsed prior to pressing start
Primary and Secondary faults.
Fault length and fault type are also
displayed
6 Arc Chaser Quick Start Guide
Tone
System Settings
Tone Generation mode is used to trace cable runs and locate faults by sound.
• Power the Arc Chaser on by pressing the Power Button
• Select Tone icon
• Connect the Arc Chaser to the cable (via leader cable or dual banana plug to BNC female adapter)
• Select one of the four tone cadences in the Tone Selection box:
▪ Low - High - Melody #1 – Melody #2
• Select Start icon to send the tone
• Use a tone probe (refer to accessories) alongside the cable or at the end of the cable to hear an audible tone
• Select Stop icon to stop the tone generator
System Settings is for management of Arc Chaser system settings.
• Power the Arc Chaser on by pressing the Power Button .
• Select the System Settings icon or System Settings Button to enter the Arc Chaser settings
• Press the System Settings button to access additional settings
Select to save test results as PDF
Select to save test results as CSV
Select to enter a custom VOP value
Select to save an adjusted VOP value
Select to access additional menu options
Live Intermittent Fault Detection (Live IFD) Continued:
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File Manager
USB
File Manager mode is for management of saved test results.
• Power the Arc Chaser on by pressing the Power Button
• Select the File Manager icon
• Fault location files will be displayed first. To view IFD files, select Show IFD icon
• Select the Up or Down icons to scroll through the file list
• The files can be renamed or deleted by selecting the Rename or Delete icon
USB mode is for transferring results from Arc Chaser to a computer for record keeping and printing.
• Power the unit on by pressing the Power Button .
• Connect Arc Chaser to your computer by using the included micro USB cable
• Select USB icon
• A dialog window will appear on your computer (if a dialog window does not appear, open Computer then double click on the Removable drive)
• Double click on the Reports folder
• Double click in either the Live IFD or Fault Location folder
• Right click on the desired files and copy them to a folder in your computer Note: Saving test results to your computer can be done either by using your micro USB cable or SD card. See the Arc Chaser instruction manual for specific instructions.*
Optional Accessories
Arc Chaser Kit
For complete Arc Chaser user manual, technical information and customer support, please visit www.t3innovation.com or send an email to [email protected].
• Arc Chaser main unit• T3 Leader Cable 5ft 600V CAT III• Flanged Crocodile Clips: red and black 600V CAT III UL/CSA• Dual banana to BNC female• Adapter: BNC male to F female • Power Supply• SD Card• Micro USB Cable• Carabiner Strap • Protective Arc Chaser Case
